


2018/19 Nat 5 English Portfolio

by pity_the_living



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Academic, English, English Portfolio, Exams, National 5, Portfolio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 00:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21347293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pity_the_living/pseuds/pity_the_living
Summary: National 5s are an exam sat by 15/16 year olds in Scotland. This is my portfolio which got me full marks on both pieces! :)





	1. Nat 5 - a brief summary

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!   
This is just a brief summary of what Nat 5s are and what marks I got. Skip ahead for my writing!  
:)

Hello!!  
So as you might know, I'm from Scotland. Last year (or this year, depending if you're talking academic years) I sat my national 5 exams. 15/16 year olds across Scotland sit these as a precursor to the big bad exams which get you into various universities.  
Of course, this writing doesn't just apply to Nat 5s - GCSEs, whatever they take in America, or just general academic writing - can benefit!  
In English, students are graded by a final exam and a portfolio. Overall, the grade is broken down into 3 parts:  
• set text (revised in class, ie. the great gatsby),  
• RUAE (reading for understanding, analysis, and evaluation[unknown text is used]),  
and  
• portfolio (two pieces, one broadly creative and one broadly discursive)  
While I can't give you my final exam pieces, I can give you my portfolio!  
I received full marks on both pieces (30/30). I hope this can help you too!!


	2. Broadly Creative - The Littlest Giants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This piece comes under the broadly creative umbrella - it's a personal work!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment, ask questions, or just plain heckle.  
:)

### The Littlest Giants

The probability of my existence has always been miniscule.

Every decision ever made, any war ever waged, even a footstep in another direction can change the odds. 

In its essence, existence is our everything. Every waking moment we spend breathing is the biggest thing to ever happen to us. Then swiftly we delve into the maze that is our mind, and we sonder. There are 7.6 billion other human lives around us. An inconceivable number met with an inconceivable existence. These people have families, lives, hardships and laughter. These people are us.

In turn, we venture into thoughts deeper. We ponder our existence in comparison to the solar system, then how minute our system is in a galaxy of millions. Our own galaxy is not in solitude, and is surrounded with millions of others and each could hold yet more existences. We feel so miniscule, so tiny and unimportant in comparison to the vast shining ocean through which our galaxies soar. Our lifespans are mere flashes in our universe’s time-line, ultimately meaningless, left to be swept away with the sands of time.

Yet, our existence is all we have.

When we are young, we gaze, craning our necks to see the giants who tower above us. We are told of heroes of legendary proportions, the tales of their quests weaving the fabric of our dreams. We grow bigger, and so do our minds. Bigger goals, gargantuan thoughts, and visions larger than comprehension. In our kingdom of dreams, there are those who cannot be blown to nothing by the winds of reality. The heroes, the myths, the legends. The people; larger than life personalities that we crane our necks to catch even a glimpse of. Then suddenly, you’re right in front of them.

On May 12th, 2018, I would be right in front of them.

The car journey there was uneventful, just an abundance of joggers wearing red headbands. As we grew closer to our destination a buzz rumbled distantly in my ears. It pulsed through my veins, almost unnoticeable. 

We finally stopped and stretched our legs out of my cousin’s tiny Mini Cooper. The sight before us was a vast colosseum of titanic buildings towering above us, filling our field of view. The buzz seemed to echo from the walls the buildings formed, and we craned our necks in a hilariously tourist-like fashion to see the tops.

I looked over at Sophie, an ant in comparison to the behemoths surrounding us, to find her craning her neck too. We walked towards the Usher Hall where tall men told us where to go. 

We were led to our seats.

Before us was a vast hall unlike any I had ever witnessed. Hundreds of seats lined each wall, every corner, and every balcony. Pillars scaled the walls to the intricately carved roof, as if it has been created by the deities themselves. Once again, we were craning our necks to admire the building. The buzz was more prominent than before.

Strong bass pulsated through the speakers, infecting everyone with a unified rhythm. In the mortal engine which was the hall, the bass was its heartbeat, the music its voice, and the crowd its soul. 

As we waited for the show to begin, we wandered to the merchandise area. A plethora of items were arranged upon a 15 foot high board, forcing us to crane our necks over the hordes of people. We returned to our seats content with our purchases. I donned my new jacket. I was now clad in armour which made me feel invincible.

A familiar song blasted over the speakers and as I danced in my seat, I found others doing the same, part of larger collective. As the time drew on, the buzz grew louder, more deafening by the second. Then, from the abyss came a single sharp note, piercing its way through our eardrums. 

The crowd was united in a single song which we at that moment could roar unashamedly. Like a hive mind, we belted out lyrics so intense, it cancelled out the buzz.

The audience erupted in a chorus of _‘Welcome to the Black Parade’_ by My Chemical Romance.

The final drums marched us towards the beginning of the show. The lights flickered out, shrouding us in velvety darkness. When the lights finally blazed back on, the buzz rose to a penultimate crescendo; they were right in front of us. 

Just as I had looked up to adults to see their faces and I had looked up to legends to hear their stories, now, two gangly, dorky, 6 foot something boys were on stage; I had been looking up to them, yet now I was looking up at them.

The crescendo of the buzz reverberated throughout my system, flooding my every fibre with a grab bag of raw emotion. Childish tears became torrents in my eyes as we waved to our myths, our legends, our heroes. 

For the two hours for which the show ran, I became enveloped in an anthropomorphic hive mind, collectively named ‘Brenda.’

Too soon, as we said our goodbyes and more tears arrived, we shuffled half-heartedly to our cars. As the people of Brenda returned to their respective lives, we were all safe in the knowledge that we are part of something bigger.

And just how I am one of 7.6 billion people, I am part of something bigger. Our planet, our solar system, even our very galaxies wander a vast abyss to which we cannot answer the nature of its finality. We are one tiny part of a great machine which spans the expanding, glistening fields of our universe.

I realise as I step into the miniscule Mini Cooper once more that, existence is the foundation of our lives, but we do not live to exist.

We live to experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
kb


	3. Broadly Discursive - Why Satanism isn't That Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one was a fun one - my persuasive piece on why you should give Satanists a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I decided to write this after my chemistry teacher told me that his (very intelligent) daughter wrote a satirical piece on why you should join a cult.  
The look on the English teachers' faces when I told them what I was writing about made it all worth it.   
But hey! Satanism might just get you full marks too.

### Why Satanism isn’t that bad

In an age of social disconnect, corrupt politicians, and modern dictatorships, a good moral compass is hard to find. Liberty, compassion and the ability to admit one’s mistakes are ever diminishing values. Everyone seems to have a hamartia and it’s every man for himself. In times like these, a person wants to feel unified in a community that has not forgotten these values. If you seek something like this yourself, why not become a Satanist? 

The Satanic Temple has seven tenets. These are fundamental beliefs that are “designed to inspire nobility in action and thought.” The Temple encourages benevolence and empathy and advocates for a person’s bodily autonomy. They recognise that people are fallible and promote the ability to make amends. One would find these morals to be agreeable outside the context of Satanism. It is perhaps inevitable that when invoking the name Satan that one’s own preconceptions and prejudices would colour views and opinions concerning the Temple. However, the Satanic Temple’s teachings are in keeping with many mainstream philosophies such as Humanism. The Temple even acknowledges this in its own writings and states that “Satanists adhere to the principles of individual sovereignty and rejection of tyrannical authority.” As these are not fundamental concepts of Humanism but are paramount to the Temple, it finds individuality as its own religion and philosophy. As a society, we view Humanism as noble, while Satanism is immediately rejected for invoking such an infamous name. As Satan is synonymous with sin and suffering, we view the Temple through biased eyes. Our own prejudices deny us the ability to embrace the doctrine of the Temple as we inherently discriminate against such ideas though presumptions. The shallow nature of such ill-informed presumptions hinders a person from seeing beneath such trivialities as nomenclature. However, by putting these aside and embracing the Temple, one can view the religion with fresh eyes which see beyond the surface.

As in any religion, there are those who disagree with another version of its teachings. The Church of Satan is to modern Satanism as the Westboro Baptist Church is to modern Christianity. Founder and spokesperson of the Temple, Lucien Greaves, has repeatedly spoken out about the Church’s incorrect claims about them. In a reference guide endorsed by the Temple, many misconceptions are corrected and false claims are brought to light. For example, the Temple highlights its advocation of reproductive rights and secularism while the Church does nothing of the sort. The Temple does not associate itself with the Church, seeing them as outdated with wild allegations. In the fact sheet, the Temple states that the Church “believes men who prefer blue cheese dressing must be homosexually inclined because the odour is reminiscent of a locker full of well-worn jock straps”. While the Temple is socially and politically active, the Church has stagnated and become archaic. This is exemplified as the Temple is the subject of a major documentary regarding modern Satanism being released in 2019, while the Church fails to grow and adapt in the same ways. We assume that the Church and the Temple are in league with one another, therefore if one is rejected the other too, must go. However, if we are told to believe that sexual preference is defined through taste in cheese dressings by one organisation and not the other, the latter is definitely a more sane and preferable choice. Our ability to separate both factions is essential if we are to properly understand the Temple, using common sense to weed out outrageous cheese-based claims and the like.

One would believe that The Satanic Temple is in direct contrast to Christianity. In fact, these religions share many similarities. The spirit of compassion is common to both and is manifested in the Temple’s own tenets, where “one should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures”. Where Christianity is praised for such morals, Satanism is not associated with these commendable attributes as few peer behind the name. Despite the name, The Satanic Temple does not worship or revere Satan, let alone believe in an entity by that name. Instead, he is symbolised as “the Eternal Rebel”, rejecting tyrannical authority and advocating for the pursuit of knowledge and self-determination. Freedom is a right over which blood has been shed, with every human longing for it. Tyranny in all its forms is rebelled against, as the Temple encourages. The spirit of rebellion against terrifying evils is familiar to both religions. Though they share many commonalities, the name of the practice once again discourages us from learning independently about its values. When we learn to open our minds and maintain a civilised nature, we are able to overcome innate biases. Otherwise, we are forced into a harmful cycle of hate.

As all humans make mistakes, we need such values as benevolence and empathy. Self-determination and freedom have been fought for showing its importance to our society. It is only when we introduce the name Satan that we discard the idea in that context. In our modern world, one would hope that we were evolved enough to make our own decisions through independent research. Through such research we would come to see that the two main faces of Satanism are not alike, their only relation being the name. In fact, when we compare Satanism to our own religions, we find admirable concepts in both. The name of Satan is just the first of many complex layers in the Temple’s belief system. It is only when we are able to see beneath our misleading and empty assumptions that we can truly open ourselves to something we do not understand. With the ability to see beneath these appearances comes the knowledge of the true teachings of the Temple. In conclusion, the Devil is in the details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
kb


	4. coming to an exam board near you - highers!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what comes next - give you a tenner if you can guess what I'm going to write about ;)

Looking back on that, my writing (especially persuasive, I mean yeesh) has improved. So I passed - huzzah!  
Now what.   
Well this year darling is higher time. The biggest jump of difficulty in highschool exams is the one between Nat 5 and higher. The grades are broken down in the same way, with two folio pieces.   
This year, i've already started writing mine.  
Be prepared for next year where you will have the (dis)pleasure of reading:

• (creative/**personal**) untitled: letters from dad - in which parts of my life which I can't remember were documented in various emails from my dad to me. 

• (**persuasive**/discursive) The Nightmare Behind Fairytales - in which I call all of your favourite childhood cryptids child predators.

It's gonna be fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
kb


End file.
